Posted by Emily Koh, July 23, 2008 at 4:00 PM
After having conquered—maybe "endured" is a better word—Brick Lane Curry House's phaal curry challenge, I'm beginning to suspect everyone at the Serious Eats HQ are not-so-secretly using me as a guinea pig to see how much spiciness one can take before their tastebuds become obliterated. Although slightly concerned about potential ulcers and the future of my digestive capabilities, I am not one to back down from a challenge (what did I say about spice seekers and their egos?), which is why my ears perked up when it was mentioned that Sripraphai not only served some of the best Thai food in New York, but also some of the truly spiciest. So off I went to Queens, expecting to taste some of the spiciest Thai dishes in a milder redux of my earlier Indian curry adventure.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 6, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Serious Eats contributor Matthew Amster-Burton just tipped me to this review of Wondee Siam in the Bangkok Post: "I read the Bangkok Post review every Friday, and I've never seen them venturing outside Thailand before."
After brushing off popular Sri Praphai, the paper's Ung-Aang Talay writes:
Wondee Siam's som tam Thai was quite authentic, made from crunchy strands of green papaya with only a few easily avoidable threads of carrot thrown in for colour. It also included crisp, sweet green beans and American cherry tomatoes, so much tastier and more fragrant than local Thai equivalents. Sourness seemed to come from American limes, perhaps Key limes, whose flavour was close enough to Thai manao. The crab, however, was alien, larger and with a thicker shell than poo na and more difficult to eat, but still viable. It was made sour and hot and was very satisfying.
Talay also liked the soft-shell crab there. [Snip, after the jump.]
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Posted by Ed Levine, February 24, 2006 at 1:01 PM
Three months in the slurping, my chicken soup piece came out Wednesday in the NYTimes. For those of you who don't read the Times, I am going to list my ten favorite chicken soups (I sampled a hundred) here, along with a few others I really liked that just failed to crack the top ten:
- Blue Ribbon Bakery 33 Downing Street (Bedford Street), (212) 337-0404. Matzo ball soup, $7.75.
- Cubana Café 110 Thompson Street (Prince Street), (212) 966-5366. Chicken soup with avocado, tomato, cilantro and yuca (cassava), $5.
- Fred's at Barneys New York 660 Madison Avenue (60th Street), ninth floor, (212) 833-2200.
- Estelle's chicken soup $8.
- Grand Sichuan International 229 Ninth Avenue (24th Street), (212) 620-5200. Chicken and pea shoots, $8.95; chicken with pickled cabbage, $7.95.
- Hearth 403 East 12th Street (First Avenue), (646) 602-1300. Chicken soup with escarole, chicken dumplings and pastina, $12.
- Momofuku Noodle Bar 163 First Avenue (10th Street), (212) 475-7899. Chicken noodle soup with Shanghai thick noodles, onions and scallions, $11.
- New Chao Chow Restaurant 111 Mott Street (between Canal and Hester Streets), (212) 226-2590. Chao Chow wonton soup, $3.50.
- Perry St. 176 Perry Street (West Street), (212) 352-1900. Chicken soup with vegetables, avocado and dill, $13.50.
- Pio Maya 40 West Eighth Street (Avenue of the Americas), (212) 254-2277. Chicken soup, $3.25.
- Sripraphai 64-13 39th Avenue, Woodside, Queens, (718) 899-9599. Chicken soup with mushrooms, coconut milk and galangal; Cornish hen in hot and sour soup (tom-zap), both $7.
A few others I really enjoyed:
- Akdeniz 19 W. 46th Street (bet. Fifth and Sixth Aves.) 212-575-2307; Slightly creamy chicken soup that comes to life with a squeeze of the lemon they serve it with.
- Al Bustan 827 Third Avenue (bet. 50th and 51st Sts.) 212-759-5933 Lebanese Chicken soup enlivened with the same lemon squeeze and, surprisingly, a touch of cinnamon.
- Azuri Cafe 465 W.51st (between 9th and 10th Aves.) 212-265-2920; I was lovin' the chicken soup here until I put the first piece of matzo ball in my mouth. It was ice cold. So I cut up the matzo balls into little pieces and let them sit in the soup for a minute or two to heat them up. Brilliant!
- Brooklyn Diner USA: 212 W. 57th Street (between Broadway and Seventh Ave.) 212-977-2280; Fine classic chicken soup with moist chicken and a toothsome broth.
- Teresa's 103 First Avenue (between 6th and 7th Sts.) 212-228-0604; If the noodles were al dente at this Polish coffee shop, this bargain chicken soup ($2.75) would have cracked the top ten.
